Friday, August 3, 2012

Risk: Supervolcano Near Pompeii Could Have Globally Catastrophic Effects

From Reuters:

"Super volcano", global danger, lurks near Pompeii

Across the bay of
Naples from Pompeii, where thousands were incinerated by Mount Vesuvius
in 79 AD, lies a hidden "super volcano" that could kill millions in a
catastrophe many times worse, scientists say.

The boiling mud and sulphurous
steam holes of the area west of Naples known as the Campi Flegrei or
Phlegraean Fields, from the Greek word for burning, are a major tourist
attraction.

But the zone of intense
seismic activity, which the ancients thought was the entrance to hell,
also could pose a danger of global proportions with millions of people
literally living on top of a potential future volcanic eruption.

"These
areas can give rise to the only eruptions that can have global
catastrophic effects comparable to major meteorite impacts," said
Giuseppe De Natale, head of a project to drill deep under the earth to
monitor the molten "caldera"....MORE